Welcome to The Sloane Letters Project
A pilot of this project, Sir Hans Sloane’s Correspondence Online, was first launched at the University of Saskatchewan in 2010 to coincide with the 350th anniversary of Sir Hans Sloane’s birth. The project was renamed The Sloane Letters Project when it moved to this site in 2016.
The correspondence of Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) consists of thirty-eight volumes held at the British Library, London: MSS 4036-4069, 4075-4078. The letters are a rich source of information about topics such as scientific discourse, collections of antiquities, curiosities and books, patients’ illnesses, medical treatments and family history. Most of the letters were addressed to Sloane, but a few volumes were addressed to others (MSS 4063-4067) or written by Sloane (MSS 4068-4069).
So far, we have entered descriptions and metadata for Sloane MSS 4036-4053 and 4075, as well as several letters from each of the following: Sloane MSS 4054-4055, 4066, 4068-4069 and 4076. Several of these entries also include transcriptions. Further entries and transcriptions are being made available gradually.
Please, explore the website and database. You can search through the letters, learn about Sir Hans Sloane or the letters written to him, and peruse blog posts about interesting letters!
Random Letter
Author:Recipient:
Honred Sir.
I read your kind letter concerning Mrs Ballard affairs for which I am much obliged to you I have filed a bill in chancers in her behalf against Gotterdale’s Estate which is now in ye possession of one Mr Worthington in Ireland, in order to make them acct to her for ye 500d he recieved for her, it will be a matter of great difficulty after so long a time to settle an acct of that nature which the people concerned against her are entirely ignorant of, or even that she had so much as a demand upon them, but her demand is very clear whether there will be assets of old Mr Gotterdale chargeable with this debt & the making up the acct will be the fine, the first I shall make appear I believe, in the last Mrs Ballard herself must give all the information she can as to what she had read for she may expect a cross bile of discovery to make her answer as I have informed her already I have by me a testimonial under your hand of what has been paid her, but that cannot be read as evidence we have been for mine smoutty under matial & which has sent after to all proceedings in ye court or I had been able to have given you a more satisfactory acct. I am very glad to hear by many from London that you continue in a good state of health, & flatter myself that one day I shall have ye pleasure of seeing you again, than which nothing could be a greater satisfaction to Honred Sr
your most dutifull Grandson & most obliged humble Ser.t
Rose Fuller
Spa Town
June 2d 1735
I take ye liberty to inclose a letter for Mrs. Rose
Read more- Letter 4481
Latest Statistics
| Pages digitised | |
| 4,545 | Document summaries |
| Documents transcribed | |
| People | |
| 1,527 | Medical Cases |
| Places |